Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1887-09-01
Niagara Falls.
ny ANTHONY rRoLLopE,

which tourists travel to sec, at least
of all those which have seen.-l am
inclined to give the palm to the Falls
of Niagara. In the catalogue of such
sights intend to include all buildings,
pictures, statues and wonders OF art
made by mems hands. and also all
beauties of nature prepared by the
Creator for the delight of His creatures.
This is long word; but as far as my
taste and judgement 60. it is JUSTIFIED.
know no other one thing so beautiful,
SO glorious and so powerful. 1 would
not by this be understood as saying
that traveller wishing to do the best
with his time should first of all places
seek Niagara. In visiting Florence he
may learn almost all that modern art
can teach. At Rome he will be brought
to understand the cold hearts, correct
ewes and cruel ambition of the old Latin
race. In Switzerland he will surround
himself with a flood of grandeur and
loneliness, and fill himself, if he be
capable of such filling. with flood of
romance. The tropics will unfold to
him all that vegetation in its greatest
richness can produce. In Paris he will
find the supreme of polish. the nc plus
ultra of varnish according to the
worlds capability of vanishing; and in
London he will find the supreme OF
power, the ne Plus ultra of work ac-
cording to the worlds capability of
working. Any one of such journeys
may be more valuable to man-nay,
any one such journey must be more
valuable to man. than n visit to Nj
agara. At Niagara there is that fall of
water alone. But that is more grace
full than G;Otto's tower, moro noble
than the Apollo. The peaks Of the
Alps are not so astounding in their
solitude. The valleys of the Blue
maintains in Jamaica are less green.
The finished glaze of life in Paris is
less invariable; and the full tide of
trade round the Bank of England is not
so ineXorably powerful.
That the waters of Lake Erie have
come down in their courses from
the broad basins of Lake Michigan,
Lake Superior and Lake Huron; that
these waters fall into Lake Ontario by
tho short and rapid river Niagara, and
that the Falls of Niagara are made by
q sudden break in the level of this
rapid river, is probably known TO all
who will read this book. All the wa
tiers of these huge northern inland seas
run over that breach in the rocky bot
tom of the stream; and thence it
comes that the flow is unceaSing in its
grandeur, and that no eye can preceivc
difference in the weight, or sound. or
lieu IN inc uIOunN -whnthCr it be Wis
the storms of winter, OF after the
melting of other worlds of ice in
the days of the early summer How
many cataracts does the habitual tour
list visit at which the waters fail him?
But ut Niagara the waters never fail.
There it thund,rs over its lodges in Il
volume that never ceases and is never
diminiShcd;-as it has done from time
previous to the life of men, aud rs it
will till tens of thousands of years
shall see the rocky bed of the river
worn away, back TO the upper lake.
1t has been said that it matters much
from what point the falls are first seen,
but to this | dcmur. 1t matters. |
think, very little. or not at all. Let
the visitor first see it all, and learn the
whereabouts of every point, so as TO
understand his own position and that
of the waters; and then having done
that in the way of business, let him
proceed to enjoyment. l doubt whelh-
er it be not the best to do this with all
sightseeing. l am quite sure that it
is the way in which acquaintance may
be best and most pleasantly made with
new picture.
The Falls are, as | have said, made
by a sudden breach in the level of the
river. All cataracts are. | presume,
made BY such breaches; but generally
the waters do not fall precipitously as
they do at Niagara, and never else
where, rs far as the world yet knows,
has breach so sudden been made in n
river carrying in its channel such or
any approach to such a body of water.
Up above the falls, for more than 4
mile, the waters leap and burst over
rapids. as though conscious of the
destiny that awaits them. Here the
river is very broad, and comparatively
shallow. but from shore to shore it
frets itself into little torrents, and be-
gins 10 assume the majesty of its power.
Looking at it even here, in the ex-
panse which forms itself over the
greater fall, one feels sure that no
strongest swimmer could have chance
OF saving himself. il fate had cast him
in even among those petty whirlpOOls.
The waters, though so broken in their
descent, are delciouSly green. This
color, as seen early in the morning. or
just us the sun has set, is so bright as
to give the place (onc) of its chiefcst
charms. This Il be best seen from the
lhl AHtl CIu vi INC lslilnu-NIOat island,
rs it is called, which, as the reader
will understand, divides the river i'm
med atcly above the falls. Indeed the
island is part of that preciptously
broken ledge over which the river
tumbles; and no doubt in process of
me will be worn away and covered
with water. The time, however. will
be very long. In the meanwhile it is
perhaps Il mile round, and is covered
thickly with timber. At the upper end
OF the island the waters are divided.
and coming down in two courses, each
over lis own rapids, form two separate
falls. The bridge by which the island
is entered is hundred yards or more
above the smaller fall. The waters
here have been tunred by the island,
and make their leap into the body of
the river below at a right angle with
it-about two hundred wards below the